McGehee earns spot on Massachusetts U-17 Boys Olympic Development Team

By John Cochin

jcochin@sanfordnews.com

fosters.com

By John Cochin

jcochin@sanfordnews.com

Posted Nov. 8, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By John Cochin

jcochin@sanfordnews.com

Posted Nov. 8, 2012 at 3:15 AM

SANFORD—Sanford High School sophomore soccer standout Connor McGehee has recently earned a spot on the Massachusetts U-17 Boys Olympic Development Team, one of the first steps towards a goal of eventually being selected to the US National soccer team.

Although the Olympic Development Team program isn’t the only source of identifying national talent, it is the greatest contributor to the national pool. For the past two years, Connor has been playing for the New Hampshire ODT, which is a stronger program to Maine because of its greater number of skilled players.

This year, Connor decided to try out for the Massachusetts Development Team which has an even greater pool of players than New Hampshire. To be selected he had to compete against more than 50 high level players from all over the state. During the summer he worked extremely hard to prepare for the Massachusetts competition which included two separate two hour sessions. And his hard work really paid off when he was selected for the final 26-player roster.

Making the Massachusetts team was especially difficult because of the state’s larger population and the greater number of resources Massachusetts has to scholarship players. Connor will begin formal training with the Massachusette team in January and will travel to Portugal over February break to compete against european clubs. In making the team, Connor had to overcome some pretty tough odds. Not only was he one of the youngest players competing for a slot on the team, he had to compete against players from a state whose level of play was faster than that which he encountered in his local area. That, and the fact that he does not live and compete in Massachusetts day in and day out, made his selection even more impressive.

Each state has one Olympic Development Team for each age group from 11 year old boys to 17 year olds. Once their roster has been filled the teams train periodically through the winter and spring and compete in a regional tournament in June. There are four regions in the continental Uniter States and New England is part of Region 1 which includes all states from Vermont to Virginia and Pennsylvania. In the summer there is a week long camp held for Region 1 and from that camp the top players are selected to a regional pool team that will represent Region 1 at the national level. It is from these four regional pools of players that selections are made for the US National Team.